Ryu strode into his office at dawn, tossing a scroll onto the desk of his secretary, Enjomi Kaori. The young woman glanced up, her sharp eyes narrowing at the urgency in his posture.
"This is a new procurement list for a new project," he said, tapping the scroll. "I need everything in this list."
Kaori unrolled the scroll, scanning the densely written items. "Another project? May I ask what this is for?"
Ryu paused at the door, a sly smile playing on his lips. He explained, "It is a device used to create images of the inside of the body for medical purposes, helping in diagnosis and treatment. I am going to call it an ultrasound machine. It uses sound waves to create images of the body's interior. Imagine a tool to see through flesh without cutting through it with a blade. Imagine diagnosing fractures or tumours without cutting open the patients."
As Enjomi hurried out, she signalled to the ANBU operatives shadowing the compound—a subtle hand gesture beneath her cloak, indicating 'protect the workshop', it meant. She then vanished like smoke.
The ANBU operatives understood the message instantly and dispersed to secure the workshop. Hiruzen had put great efforts into ensuring Ryu's safety.
This team was also her indirect link with the Hokage. She had also previously informed the Hokage through his team about Ikkyu and his sister when they came to meet Tsunade for Aoi's treatment and ended up getting treated by Ryu's new invention.
Enjomi reached Hiruzen to update him and informed him that Ryu had started another small individual project.
Hiruzen thought, 'Ultrasound machine? That won't sit well with the Hyuga. But he has now even stronger backing than me. I never knew that he was already at the level where he could even outthink Tsunade when it came to medical ninjutsu.'
Back in the workshop, Ryu stood amid a labyrinth of equipment, his sleeves rolled to the elbows. On the workbench: vials of carbon dust for making carbon fibre.
"Miniature 3D printer?" he muttered, sketching a design. "Too advanced for now. I have to manually shape the carbon fibre to the minute detail. Solidifying chemical spray? Unstable, and it lacks control and will spill everywhere."
He continued to think, his mind racing with thoughts for reinforcing his new companion's frail bone structure. With each rejected concept, Ryu became more motivated to develop something really innovative in the world of medical ninjutsu. He even considered producing other materials, but he couldn't conceive of any at the time, so he had to settle with carbon.
He seized a handful of carbon dust and thought, 'If the Third Kazekage could manipulate iron sand, the Fourth could control gold dust, and Gaara could control sand, then it is also possible to control carbon.'
Ryu smiled and said, "Right now I am the only person that understands the nature of carbon atoms."
"Let's try it," Ryu said as he took some carbon dust and put it in his palm.
Ryu concentrated his chakra into the carbon dust, envisioning the orderly connection of carbon atoms in a linear formation. He concentrated intensely, commanding the particles to align meticulously, atom by atom. After a few minutes, when he opened his eyes, there were strands of hair-like protrusions on his palm made out of aligned carbon atoms.
Just to make one-dimensional strands of a few carbon hairs took everything from Ryu.
Ryu said, "Ok, it won't happen on the spot. I need to build a training regime around carbon control."
Excitedly, he shouted again, "CARBON CONTROL!!!"
"I like the name," he said with a big grin on his face. Just then, many ideas started forming in his head.
Ryu shouted, "If I can reinforce his bones with carbon fibre, then I can also do that on myself. I can make myself carbon fibre skin armour that is flexible and becomes hard on my command. I can even make lightweight carbon fibre armour for others. I can also use carbon fibre on my future creations."
He then remembered one more character from another anime called Fullmetal Alchemist. An image flickered in his mind.
He said, "Greed, the Homunculus. If I could rearrange the carbon in my body to make my skin as hard as diamond, it would be impenetrable by most weapons. His fighting style was crude, but his skin-hardening technique was bloody brilliant."
Ryu then realised a groundbreaking idea. He blinked multiple times in disbelief before shouting.
"Bloody hell." Ryu shouted and stood where he was sitting.
He clutched his head, realising the implications. He shouted in a low tone, "Artificial diamonds. I can synthesise them in the lab. I am the only one with knowledge of this."
Ryu smiled, and imaginary dollar signs started floating in front of him thanks to his hyperphantasia.
He shoved those dollars aside and made the plans in his head for what more he could do.
Ryu grinned like Greed himself and thought, "Artificial diamonds will solve my money problem forever, but I cannot go full nuts with it. A sudden influx of diamonds directly from me will increase suspicions."
Ryu thought, "Ikkyu … I can sell diamonds to him. He owns me, so he won't sell me out."
Ryu then said to himself, "Okay, first things first... Training."
Ryu tapped his carbon-covered fingers on the desk as he talked to himself, "I must follow a systematic training approach similar to mastering lightning affinity. Initially, I will focus on creating one-dimensional carbon chains. Then I will go for two-dimensional surfaces. Then I will try to create a three-dimensional structure.
And lastly, I will combine all three and form complex nanostructures. Carbon is very versatile and can be used to make a lot of things."
He then got back to his training in carbon control, trying to create one-dimensional strands out of carbon dust.
After a few hours, his secretary returned with all the requested equipment meticulously organised and stored in the inventory.
Ryu enquired, "Is everything there? Anything missing?"
Secretary Enjomi replied, "No. Everything is here already. It took us time to find the piezoelectric crystals you mentioned, but we found them eventually.
Once I informed the staff that you were working on developing an ultrasound machine and explained its purpose, they all collaborated and gathered the necessary items. They even sourced the items that were not readily available in the market. They all know how important your research is to the company.
Masato-san expressed his eagerness to see your new ultrasound machine project when I told him about it."
Ryu said, "Ok, you can leave now. I will get started."
Ryu then began the construction of the ultrasound machine, which was relatively straightforward in comparison to the more complex MRI machines.
Ryu said, "MRI will take time, but the ultrasound machine will be done in no time."
Ryu started working and worked tirelessly the entire day. He needed to craft entire PCBs by himself, but he had all the equipment he needed in his workshop, and he had all the knowledge he needed available with him, so it was just a matter of time.
Ryu finished with the initial designs and circuit boards of the project by nightfall and slept there.
Dan and Yasashii came to pick him up at night when they noticed Ryu slumped over his desk, cheek pressed against blueprints titled Ultrasound Machine.
Yasashii asked, "Does he always work like this?"
Dan responded, "Yes, he works like a maniac all the time."
Yasashii said, "He should be more concerned with his health."
Dan responded, "But he is very conscious of his health, so he works out as soon as he wakes up, follows a healthy diet, and maintains a regular exercise routine. That is why I packed him an entire day of food with him, including dinner."
Dan smiled, looking at his grandson, and said, "I am proud of him."
Yasashii asked, "Was this the reason you adopted him?"
Dan replied, "No, that wasn't the reason. It was something entirely different."
Dan then picked Ryu up, and on the way, he told the entire story behind Ryu and his heritage and how Ryu conquered every difficulty he faced from his untreatable disease and near death to how he became the number one student at the ninja academy and how he leads his new company.
Yasashii listened to Ryu's story so far and said, "It feels like I'm hearing a tale from a fantasy novel, perhaps titled The Medical Ninja."
Dan asked, "Do you like to read?"
Yasashii replied, "People discarded numerous books regularly, often dismissing them as mere children's tales. However, those stories were my solace."
Dan said, "Come on then; I will show you my library. Most are ninjutsu and fuinjutsu books, but there are quite a few storybooks," and he guided his new student back home.
Yasashii replied, "Any book will do. I just like to read."
As they walked, Yasashii couldn't help but feel grateful for the unexpected encounter with Ryu. He made a new commitment to himself to work hard in his studies under Dan's guidance so that he could eventually assist Ryu.
##PoWeR StOnEs##
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